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What you need to know about the Texas House dust-up between the speaker and a conservative activist

Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen faces accusations from hardline conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan that he tried to get Sullivan’s political group, Empower Texans, to target 10 Republican House members in next year’s primary elections.

Texas Speaker of the House Honorable Dennis Bonnen (center) visits with colleagues during the 86th Legislative Session at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

"It was a mistake," Bonnen wrote of his and Burrows' June meeting with longtime conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, which Sullivan secretly recorded.

"I said terrible things that are embarrassing to the members, to the House, and to me personally," Bonnen said in an email obtained by The Dallas Morning News. "You know me well enough to know I say things with no filter."

Bonnen faced accusations from hardline conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan that he tried to get Sullivan's political group, Empower Texans, to target 10 Republican House members in next year's primary elections.

Bonnen, R-Angleton, had denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, House General Investigating Committee chairman Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas, said he'd convene a hearing Monday "with the intention of launching an investigation" into Sullivan's claims.

Here’s everything we know about the ongoing controversy and its implications.

How did it start?

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Bonnen and House GOP caucus chairman Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and Sullivan, CEO of the conservative group Empower Texans, met June 12. No one has denied that. But what’s in question is what happened at the meeting.

Last Thursday, Sullivan posted a blog in which he accused Burrows of giving him a list of 10 House Republicans to target. Bonnen wasn't in the room when Burrows read him the list, Sullivan said. But he said Bonnen referred to the list in promising Empower Texans' media arm, Texas Scorecard, House media credentials for the 2021 legislative session if the group would fund the campaigns of candidates running against the legislators on the list.

Bonnen emailed Republican House caucus members last Friday, characterizing Sullivan's accusation as an effort "to further create chaos among our caucus." His letter did not address the alleged list. On Monday, Bonnen denied giving Sullivan a list and defended Burrows, saying he told Burrows not to comment on the matter because the blog was a direct attack on Bonnen as the speaker.

Bonnen said he and Burrows told Sullivan that Empower Texans should "not engage against House Republicans in the upcoming March primaries" or else the organization would have a "difficult time" qualifying for media credentials next session, according to his letter to the House Republican caucus.

Sullivan then shot back Wednesday, threatening to release audio he says he recorded during the June 12 meeting. The audio has been made available to House Republicans without redactions but has not been released to the public.

Even Democrats expressed a willingness to move on. Bonnen admitted that he said offensive things about Houston Democratic Rep. Jon Rosenthal in the conversation, and the two of them issued a joint statement. Edinburg Democratic Rep. Terry Canales, a committee chairman appointed by Bonnen, echoed sentiments similar to those of other committee chairmen backing Bonnen.

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But two Republicans on the alleged target list of Bonnen and Burrows took a different tack.

In a written statement, Rep. Tan Parker of Flower Mound said he found their "reckless ambition to be absolutely disgusting," and called for the GOP caucus to investigate what he described as a breach of its bylaws and culture. Meanwhile, Rep. Phil Stephenson said in an interview with his hometown newspaper, the Wharton Journal Spectator, that Bonnen "did lie" in denying he and Burrows had given Sullivan a target list.

Rep. Jonathan Stickland of Bedford, a frequent critic of Bonnen, told The News he heard the recording and thinks Bonnen and Burrows will have to resign.

Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, about whom Bonnen also allegedly said crude things about in the audio, initially said she was ready to move on. But on Wednesday, she said she was offended Bonnen didn't reach out to her personally.

Who’s allegedly on the list?

Sullivan said the list included Parker, Stephenson, Steve Allison of San Antonio, Trent Ashby of Lufkin, Ernest Bailes of Shepherd, Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Kyle Kacal and John Raney of College Station and Stan Lambert of Abilene.

Why is it a big deal?

Last week, the Texas Democratic Party and Ramos sued Bonnen and Sullivan, alleging improper campaign-finance collusion.

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Bonnen had warned incumbents that there would be consequences for campaigning against fellow House members, Republicans or Democrats. Now, he’s under scrutiny and accused of doing just that.

The controversy comes at a critical time for both Bonnen and for the GOP-controlled House. It’s causing turmoil in the caucus ahead of an important election cycle in which Democrats are vying to reclaim the House majority for the first time in nearly 20 years.